


the will to survive

by to-a-merrier-world (wayward_wolves)



Series: sleepyhunk's prompts and drabbles [13]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Flora & Fauna, Alien Planet, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Animal Attack, BAMF Hunk, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, More of this to come, Post Season 4 (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, Stranded, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 13:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12985263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayward_wolves/pseuds/to-a-merrier-world
Summary: Kolivan’s muscles weren’t responding to his brain anymore, the neurotoxins had taken full effect. It had been a long time since he’d been this helpless, death hanging over him with no promise of it being painless or swift.He closed his eyes, blood still rushing in his ears, and he prayed that these beasts would never find Hunk.He opened his eyes and the beast lunged.--Kolivan and Hunk are stranded alone on an uninhabited planet with little to no hope of escape. They just hope they survive long enough to be found.





	the will to survive

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: Kolivunk angst  
> \--  
> This is a snippet from a larger project I'm working on. Let me know what ya think!
> 
> hope you enjoy reading!

Kolivan dodged clumsily to the left, only just avoiding another swipe from the beast’s whip-like tail. He stumbled, almost losing his balance, and clutched his arm where the creature had sliced its claws through his flesh.

_Neurotoxins,_ he thought, clenching his teeth in frustration.  _Of course_.

Usually, he’d be able to handle such a beast on his own easily, but he’d left his knife with the yellow paladin so he could skin their dinner and the beast was standing directly in front of where it’d knocked his sword out of his hand.

He studied the beast across from him, looking for some kind of weakness he could exploit before he lost control of his body and became  _its_  dinner. He didn’t want to think about what would happen to the yellow paladin if he wasn’t there to protect him. 

The Blade could go on without Kolivan. He wasn’t sure if Voltron could recover from losing Hunk.

The beast suddenly leaped at Kolivan, who rolled to the side to avoid another swipe of its viciously sharp claws. He was fast enough, though, to dodge the creature’s tail, which whipped out and knocked him onto his back.

The beast was on him in seconds, pining him to the ground with one foreleg, its claws digging into his shoulder painfully. Its flower-shaped, teeth-filled maw loomed over him, thick saliva dripping onto Kolivan’s shirt and burning the material.

Kolivan’s muscles weren’t responding to his brain anymore, the neurotoxins had taken full effect. It had been a long time since he’d been this helpless, death hanging over him with no promise of it being painless or swift.

He closed his eyes, blood still rushing in his ears, and he prayed that these beasts would never find Hunk.

He opened his eyes and the beast lunged.

And then Hunk burst out of the underbrush, yelling and shooting his giant cannon. A blast hit the beast in the side, knocking it to the ground, but Hunk continued to shoot, rushing closer to Kolivan’s side.

When he finally stopped shooting, the beast was deathly still. Chunks of it were missing and its entire side was charred. 

Kolivan watched as Hunk turned his cannon into its smaller form, his breaths coming in heavy pants as he stared at the beast he’d just killed. Hunk visibly shook himself before turning to Kolivan, worry clear in his gaze.

“Oh, god, Kolivan,” he said, rushing over and falling to his knees beside him. His hands hovered over Kolivan, as though he was unsure of where it was okay for him to touch.

“Are you– can you move?” He asked.

“Neurotoxin,” Kolivan said. “I can’t move right now.”

“Oh, god,” the paladin said, clearly distressed. “I have no idea how to handle neurotoxins, what am I supposed to do?!”

Kolivan wanted to sigh, but he held himself back. Blade members were trained to handle dire situations like this, but he remembered how Keith had explained to him that, though the paladins had had military training, their species hadn’t seen war in many deca-phoebs. 

“Well, first you should stop me from bleeding out,” Kolivan said as calmly as he could manage.

To Hunk’s credit, he immediately ripped a section of Kolivan’s shirt off and pressed it to the wound on his shoulder. Kolivan grunted at the sharp pain that shot down his spine as Hunk applied pressure.

“Sorry, sorry,” he muttered, unnecessarily. Humans were so strange.

Hunk pulled away for a moment, taking off his own shirt and ripping off a strip of it. He returned to Kolivan’s wound and wrapped the around it around his wound. He lifted Kolivan’s shoulder as gently as he could and tied the cloth securely.

“Um,” Hunk said after he sat back from securing Kolivan’s wound. His hands twisted nervously in his lap. “What else do I need to do?”

“Wait,” Kolivan responded. “I believe the effects of the neurotoxin are already fading.”

He slowly lifted the hand of his un-injured arm before letting it fall to the ground again. The creature’s toxin must have only been active for a short period, but relied on the creature making a quick kill.

“Oh, thank god,” Hunk said, shoulder slumping in relief. “Once you think you can stand, we should go. I don’t like being out in the open like this, who knows if there are more of tho-”

Hunk was cut off when something small and fast leaped over Kolivan and slammed into Hunk’s side. Hunk rolled with the impact, getting his foot underneath the creature that attacked him and kicking it away.

Kolivan struggled to lift his head to see what was happening. The creature that attacked Hunk looked like a smaller version of the beast that attacked Kolivan. He briefly wondered if it was its offspring and hoped that, if that was the case, it was the only one.

Hunk’s bayard was still lying next to Kolivan, but he didn’t want him to have to both defend Kolivan and himself.

“My sword,” he yelled. Hunk didn’t take his eyes off the creature that was shaking itself off and getting ready for another attack. “To your right!”

Hunk lunged for the sword at the same time the creature charged at him again. He reached for the sword, his hand wrapping around the handle as the creature landed on him, knocking him to the ground.

Its flower-shaped maw grabbed hold of Hunk’s shoulder and he screamed. He brought the sword up and stabbed it into the beast. It screeched, releasing Hunk and thrashing to get away from the source of its pain.

Hunk withdrew the sword and stabbed the creature again and again until it stopped moving. Hunk dropped the sword and clutched at his bleeding shoulder, his hand slipping against his uncovered skin. He hadn’t had time to put his shirt back on yet.

Kolivan was about to ask if Hunk could still stand when something ran past him in a blur and launched itself at Hunk.

“ _NO!”_

Kolivan watched in horror as two more small creatures attacked Hunk. He scrambled for the sword, but one of the creatures wrapped its petal-like jaws around Hunk’s arm, pinning it to the ground.

Hunk screamed in pain, and punched out at the other creature that had lunged for his neck. It yelped in pain, but quickly recovered and continued its attack, its sibling seemingly content to gnaw on Hunk’s arm.

_Move_ , Kolivan yelled at himself.  _Come on, damnit, MOVE_.

Kolivan managed to lurch onto his side, his arm flopping awkwardly to the side. He reached for Hunk’s bayard, praying it would respond to his touch.

“ _Come on_ ,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

Finally, he wrapped his fingers around the bayard’s handle, the weapon immediately transforming into a small energy blaster.

Kolivan turned back towards Hunk, raised his shaking arm, and took aim. There was no time for doubt.

He let off one shot, hitting the beast currently trying to eat Hunk’s face in the side. It screeched in pain, and Kolivan shot it again–this time hitting it in the head.

He didn’t wait for it to hit the ground, already aiming for the creature still tearing at Hunk’s arm. He shot it in the side, forcing it to finally release Hunk’s arm. It howled in protest and charged at Kolivan. He shot it three more times before it fell to the ground, unmoving.

Kolivan waited, ears and eyes searching for anymore would-be attackers. When nothing came for several long moments, Kolivan lowered his gun, though he didn’t let it go.

“Paladin?” He called, voice gruff with concern.

When he received no reply, dread began to spread in his chest.

“Paladin!” He yelled, only to be greeted by silence.

Deep, bitter anger ignited in his chest as he struggled to even sit up. Useless, so fucking  _useless_!If he had moved faster, if he had reacted like the soldier he was, if he hadn’t just laid there while Hunk was… while he was…

**“HUNK!”** He screamed, desperate. 

His voice reverberated around the clearing like one of the beast’s roars, and he couldn’t stop that small, bitter part of him that whispered that he was a beast, just like every other Galra. That he was still just the monster in every child’s bedtime story.

His hand tightened on the gun and he bent his head forward, and he tried to not be consumed by the dark thoughts suddenly filling his mind. Grief, doubt, anger, shame swirling into a deadly cocktail.

Kolivan was jerked out of his thoughts by a wet sounding cough and a groan. His head whipped up and saw as Hunk’s head lulled to the side, eyes straining to open.

“Hey, Kolivan?” he croaked.

“…Yes,” Kolivan said, barely able to speak above a whisper.

“I don’t think I can carry you back to camp anymore,” he said, and Kolivan watched in near awe as his chest rose and fell. “‘M sorry…”

Kolivan wondered–not for the first time, and certainly not for the last–what it was that convinced this human he needed to apologize so much, and what he needed to do to correct this obvious error.

“Just stay alive, paladin,” Kolivan said, keeping his gruff voice soft.

“‘Kay,” Hunk responded, a small smile gracing his features.

Kolivan hoped that, one day, he’d be able to return it.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! please leave a kudo if you liked it and a comment to tell me what you thought/if you're interested in more of this!
> 
> link to [my tumblr](https://sleepyhunk.tumblr.com/) / [this prompt fill on tumblr](https://sleepyhunk.tumblr.com/post/167635457161/would-you-write-some-kolivunk-angst-like-hunk)


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